Forest Management and Civil Culture

Three types of Foresters: Service Foresters, Consulting Foresters, and Industrial Foresters.
Service Foresters work for state departments and focus on Forest stewardship plans and cost share programs. They do little on-ground management.
Consulting Foresters work for private landowners and provide expertise in Timber sales, goats for species control, marking for firewood, and various other forest management services.
Industrial Foresters work for specific mills, focusing on providing resources for the mill.
Civil culture is the Art and Science of tending or growing a forest, involving developing prescriptions and improving forest health and structure.
Sustainable Resource Management refers to managing natural resources to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and New York harvest studies showed that only 38-27% of harvests were sustainable.
Civil culture involves creating a plan to achieve landowner objectives and managing forest resources sustainably.
Civil culture allows for controlled regeneration of forests, improving habitat diversity and sustainability.
Site assessment is crucial in forestry restoration, considering factors like aspect, soils, vegetation distribution, and history.
Fire plays a significant role in forest history and regeneration, with controlled burns needed to help species regenerate.
Oak trees evolved to take advantage of fire.
Even-aged stands are common and can be assessed by looking for doubles or split trees and analyzing tree age indicators like diameter and ring widths.
Core sampling or cutting down a tree can provide accurate age information.
Tree sticks, or measuring tapes, are useful tools for foresters, providing diameter, height, and board feet measurements.
Basal area is the square foot volume occupied by the stem, not the canopy or branches.
Merchantable height varies depending on the desired forest product.- Basal area measurement in forestry: determines number of trees within a given area
Easy way to measure basal area using a wedge prism
Prism offsets a second C of the trunk to distinguish in-tree from out-tree
Borderline trees may be counted or not, depending on the goals and industrial vs. consulting foresters
Basal area calculation: number of trees multiplied by prism factor
Different prism sizes result in varying tree counts and basal area
Stocking charts help determine forest stand density
Forest stands can be 100% stocked, 60% stocked, or 45% stocked, depending on tree density
Over 45% stocking, trees will grow best
Forests are made up of various tree species and classes: dominant, co-dominant, intermediate, and suppressed trees
Different species have different strategies for growth and survival based on tolerance to shade
Forests are interconnected through root systems and nutrient transfer between trees
Forest management techniques include even-aged and uneven-aged management, clearcutting, seed tree, shelterwood, and crop tree release methods
Thinning and improvement cuts are done to improve forest health and growth, or to meet specific objectives (e.g., wildlife, aesthetics)
Managing forest growth depends on understanding the objectives and goals of the forest manager.- Fork trees are susceptible to falling apart in heavy snow or wind, especially if they have weak spots.
Improvement cuts are used to thin forests and promote growth, often in response to insect kills, fires, or sanitation needs.
Sanitation cuts involve removing trees with diseases or pests to save other trees in the forest.
Harvest cuts can be even-aged or uneven-aged, with the latter allowing for the removal of both small and large trees to maintain a balanced forest.
Diameter is not a reliable indicator of age in forest management.
Even-aged management involves clearcutting and leaving shelter trees for regeneration.
Uneven-aged management involves group selection cutting, allowing for a patchwork of ages and species in the forest.
Regeneration can come from natural seedlings or planted seedlings, but deer and other herbivores can impact success.
Stump sprouts can be a source of new growth for hardwood trees.
Undesirable vegetation should be treated before a harvest to prevent future issues.
The average stand diameter after a harvest should be the same or larger than before to ensure sustainability.
Different species have different tolerances to shade and should be managed accordingly.
Diameter limit cutting can lead to an imbalance of species and age classes in the forest.
Clearcut shelter woods leave some trees for seed sources and shelter, while uneven-aged management allows for a mix of ages and species.
Group selection cutting mimics natural forest regeneration.
Tree tubes and fencing can help protect planted seedlings from deer and other herbivores.
Logging equipment and access roads require careful planning and maintenance to minimize damage.
Small wood lots are becoming more common due to increasing property sizes, but they present unique challenges for forest management.
Commercial harvesters typically work on larger tracts of land, but small landowners can work together to manage forests as larger units.
Permitting for forest management is complex and can be a significant challenge for foresters and landowners.
Thinning permits depend on the size of the project and the intended use of the harvested trees.
Road construction and maintenance are important considerations in forest management.